Shoe-tree.



No. 849,894. l l PATBNTBD'PR. 9', 1907.

A. FULLER.

SHOE TREE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 23. 1906.

S14/0cm rot @Hoz/muje UNITED STATES i APoLLos FULLER, oF PASADENA;cALiroRNiA.

PATENT QFFICIE.Y

A suola- Thea Specicaitoh of Letters Patent. i

Patented April 9, 1907.

Application led July 23,1906. Serial No. 327,254.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, APoLLos FULLER, a citizen of the United Statesof-America, residing at Pasadena, in the county of Los Angeles and Stateof California,haveinv.ented new and useful Improvements in Shoe-Trees,of which the following is a specification, reference being had totheaccompanyinfr drawings and letters of reference marked thereon.

The object of my invention is to produce a shoe-tree adapted for a largefield of usefulness in that one device may be employed with shoes ofmany sizes.

The objects are, further, to provide a device slmple mconstructlon,mexpensive m cost of manufacture, and simple and effectivein operation.

I. accomplish the objects of my,invention by the construction hereinshown'.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of referenceKAindicate-like parts, Figure 1 is a top ,or plan viewof the device'.

Fig. 2 is a view of thedeviceas seen-'from the under side. Fig. Zis aside .View of one of the rods o f the device with attached'rmemb'hers,showing how said rod is curvedto clear the adjacent turnbuckle. Fig.Lbisan enlarged view in section of a ratchet devicewhich may be employedto aid in operating the turnbuckles, and Fig. 5 is a side view of thepawl. v

The construction and operation of my device will be readily understoodonreference to the drawing; wherein I show in Fi-gj -1 a plan view of tdevice as--applied to a shoe, the latter being shown in-0utline indotted lines, and in Fig. 2 I show a reverse view of the device, whereinit will be seen that'th'e` toe-sections a'a'are ,pivotally connected attheir forward ends.- to a plate c and that the rear end portionsof thesections have threaded rods d,pivotally connected with the sections atthe points e, which rods extend to ward each other and are oppositelythreaded. A tubular member f is provided to receive the threadedsections of the rods d, said tubular member being threaded in reversedirections, so that when said tubular member is rotated in one directionthe rods are forced outwardly and the sections a moved in" likedirection, and when the tubular member f is rotated in the op ositedirection the rods d are drawn inwardly and the sections moved in likedirection. I mount a member g on the tubular member f, the member gconsisting, preferably, of a disk of suiiicient diame- .othen l 4"theiner-piece or disk g', constructed substantia ly as before described withreference y A rod y' is pivotally connected with the plate c at thepoint t and extends rearwardly where it is pivotally connected with thethreaded rod Z, as shown in the drawings.

properly shaped to bear against the counter A heel-plate n is provided,the same being of the shoe and from the central portion of which a rod mprojects toward the rod Z. These two rods are oppositely threaded andentera turnbuckle or tubular memberf,

this beingwoppositely threaded in like man,-

ner, so that the rotation of the memberf in' i one direction forces theheel-plate m and the 1 toe-sections in an opposite direction, while therotationpf vthe member f in a reverse direction draws these members'toward each The member f is also provided with to the member g, thememberg, however, being preferably of' larger diameter. Thefinger-pieces g and g are provided with openings in their peripheriesfor the reception of a pin, which pin may be inserted in these openingsand the members g and g turned in either direction, the pin serving tofurnish additional leverage,'so as to give to the members the requisitepressure against the parts of the shoe. Such a pin is shown at s in Fig.1, one end 0f which is adapted to fit the openings in the iingenpiece gand the other end of which is adapted to fit the openings in theinger-piece g. A chain or cord t, to which the pin s is fastened, isattached at some convenient point to the device, as to the pivot-pin forthe rods j and Z, and serves to prevent accidental loss of said pin s. l

For convenience in operation in some in' stances, and especially becauseof the fact that with some constructions the tubular member f is locatedunder the overhanging ortion of the sections a, so that it might not heconvenient to reach the. same with the thumb or ingerg, I provide a-ratchet device c'omprisingwaJ hollow member h, having a stemprovidedpawlp., the stem o of which projects through the part h and is providedat its outer end with a finger-piece, a spring q. being arranged toforce the pawl outwardly, as shown. The member 71. is lprovided withrecesses ifi its end portion so as to set over the member f and to restupon both sides of the ICO IIO

member g, and as the periphery of the member gis providedwith serrationsor projections it will readily be seen that the pawl device may bereadily applied and the member f or 5 f rotated in either direction,depending only the pawl engages theteet upon the manner in which thepawl is placed in position, as the pawl p has an incline on one face, sothat when the device is actuated in one direction the pawl rides overthe teeth or serrations on the member g, and when the device is actuatedin the o posite direction E and turns the finger-piece. To turn thefinger-piece in the opposite direction, simply turn the pawl halfwayaround before commencing to move the outer end of the member h back andforth.

Various modifications may of course be made without de arture from myinvention.

The plate c is oosely pivoted to the sections a a, so as to permitfreedom of movement and ermit the sections to adjust themselves to t eshoe. The plate c is also provided with two or more sets of o enings forthe reception of pivot-screws, so t at the forward ends of the sectionsmay be pivoted at various points of separation, thus enablin(T me toadapt the device to wide or narrow toed shoes.

It will readily be seen that the field within which the device may beemployed is limited only by the extremes of adjustment and that this isdetermined by the extent of the threaded turnbuckle connection.

Having, therefore, described my invention, what I claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a shoe-tree, of the toe-sections a a pivotallyconnected at their forward ends, a rod j extending from the forwardportion of the toe-sections rearwardly, a heel-plate, a rod m project'ing forwardly therefrom, a rod l pivotally connected with the rod j,the rods Z and m being screw-threaded in o posite directions, a tubularmember f threaded to engage the threads on said rods, and means toseparate the rear ends of the toe-sections, substantially as shown.

2. The combination, in a shoe-tree, of toesections pivotally connectedto a plate c, a

rod j in pivotal connection with said plate and extending rearwardly, arod Z in pivotal connection with the rod the rod Z being exteriorlythreaded, a heel Y connected l therewith, said rod being also threadedin reverse direction from the thread on the rod l, a tubular member j"threaded in reverse directions to engage the threads on the rods l andm, and a turnbuckle construction arranged to move the rear portions ofthe toe-sections inwardly or outwardly, as shown.

3. The combination, in a shoe-tree, of toesections pivotally mounted atthe forward end, a heel-plate, rods extending between the heel-plate andthe forward end of the toe-sections, and a turnbuckle therebetween,threaded rods pivotally mounted on the rear ortion of the toe-sections,and a turnbuck e construction therebtewen,'whereby the toe-sections maybe separated by rotating the turnbuckle therebetween and the toe andheel sections may be separated by rotating the turnbuckle therebetween.

APOLLOS FULLER. Witnesses:

ALLEN WEBSTER, J. M. STERNs.

-plate and a rod m'

